The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1887-01-08
REPUBLICAN, WASTE.
Secretary whitney's Reforms in the Navy
Departmcnt-How tho Peoples Money
Was Squandered During Former Admin
istrntiOns.

Experimentation tho Peoples Money
Was Squandered During Former Admin
istrations.
One more step in the reorganization
of the navy administration upon busi-
ness principles has just been taken.
The yard at Boston has been changed
to an equipment yard, and placed in
charge of Commodore Schley, Chief of
the Bureau of Equipment and Recruit
ing. Under this same new policy OF
devoting the yards as far as practicable
to specialties, the Washington yard had
previously been turned over to the Bu-
reau of Ordnance, and this will be the
great and only factory for finishing
naval guns. A third project is that of
making some yard general supply
depot for the navy, the one at Brooklyn
being perhaps the most likely to be
chosen for this purpose. 1t is further
probable that this or some other yard
will be designated as the chief center
of construction and repair
Besides this assignment of yards to
special bureaus, we find Il second sys-
TEN of reorganization going on in the
concentration of authority, responsible
ity, and duties hitherto scattered among
all the bureaus into single bureau.
This is illustrated by the reorganization
of the Bureau of Provisions and Cloth
ing, under new Paymaster-General,
making it practically a Bureau of Ac-
counts and Supplies, though it has not
yet received that name. Another ex-
ample was to have been furnished in
the reorganization of the Bureau of
Construction and Repair; but the secre-
tary, after long delaying the reappoint-
ment of Mr.. Wilson as Chef Con-
structor, with this view, decided re-
Gently that under the existing law he
did not possess the needed power, and
accordingly awaits action on the Naval
Reorganization bill now under discus
sion in the House.
The fundamental Importance of the
reforms thus initiated by Secretary
Whitney is very clearly indicated in
these words from the recent annual re-
port of Admiral Porter:
~ think the opinion Is general throughout
the service that, until the department is reor-
ganized, we can have no system, maintain no
/ proper discipline, and build no effective ships,
but that reorganization of the department
will bring order out of chaos, and the navy will
run along rs smoothly as it did previous to
1Si2, when the Board of Navy Commissioners
were the advisers OF the Secretary Of the Navy
and had administrative and executive author
ity"
( Under the system in vogue before
the beginning of the present reform,
there were in each of the navy yards
separate establishments for six or seven
bureaus. AS q consequence, the work
{ was duplicated. Each organization
had its own shops, storehouses and
/ gangs of laborers, besides its clerical
force, when much of the work was
practically of sort common to most
of the bureaus. Secretary Whitney,
on looking over his department, was
, astonished to find six bureaus in the
same yard, separately buying little lots
> of stationery, instead of having the
: purchases made in common for all the
) bureaus in each yard, and, in fact, for
all the yards. by a general contract,
with subsequent distribution on requi-
> sitions. He found that seven bureaus
bought coal in one hundred and sixty
, six separate open purchases, instead OF
. by contract in large lots. He found
| three bureaus buying oil for the differ
t ent parts of the same ship. These
are ordinary examples of the want OF
= system.
t Not less remarkable was the waste OF
V supplies after they had been purchased.
, This resulted largely from the fact that
1 many sorts of work were done at each
a yard, and that whenever yard was
| temporarily closed the material was
: usually left to take care Of itself, often
deteriorating, while perhaps in another
| yard kept in operation exactly similar
: material was purchased. Some of the
0 illustrations of this fact given by Mr..
. Whitney are extraordinary:
0 '.At the eight navy yards there have aocumu
lated altogether OF augers and bits $685. OF
which 25 ,24 have been lying for several years
I at closed yards, where no work has been or il
: likely to be done; 29,54s gross screws are or
n hand 1886 gross lying at closed yards. There
are l46,3 1856 files in stock, 4sl42 Of them lying a
closed yards. There are II, ,sl3 paint brushes In
stock, 2,a46 of these in the stores at closed
yards All Of these tools ore servceable, most
' ly new. or most of these articles some bureaus
have recently made considerable purchases
0 and are even doing SO at the present time, while
4 to the credit of other bureaus there are very
. large amounts in store. There are found 70 bt
' over 1000 tons Of cast and wrought iron lying
l in scrap about the yards, $4,000 pounds Of com
position and brass, $4,000 pounds Of old copper
and l93, 900 pounds Of old lead"
!, The difference to be looked for under
the new order of things may be illus
trated by the Boston yard. All the ma
terial at that point not of use for tn,
!; Bureau of Equipment will be collected
= and sent to the yards where it belongs
All the equipment materials in thu
other yards will be collected and sen
: to Boston. With such a system pre-
;, vailing everywhere, we are not likely
. to find another report like that of Cap
o tain Meade's Inventory Board, that ma
terial to the amount of three or foul
millions is scattered about, fast deteri
Grating or already obsolete and useless
IN Y, Sun.
o -Egotsm is man without cola
}, carrying q gold-headed cane.-Erchang